attained either intuitively or discursively, except under the light of a supernatural revelation. On the other hand, some philosophers dignify motion, force, or the vague idea of the infinite, with the name of God. In neither of these senses of the word is the knowledge of God said to be innate, or a matter of intuition. It is in the general sense of a Being on whom we are dependent, and to whom we are responsible, that the idea is asserted to exist uni- versally, and of necessity, in every human mind. It is true that if this idea is analyzed, it will be found to embrace the conviction tliat God is a person, and that He possesses moral attributes, and acts as a moral governor. Nothing is asserted as to how far this analysis is made by uneducated and uncivilized men. All that is maintained is that this sense of dependence and accountability to a being higher than themselves exists in the minds of all men.
The Knowledge of God is Universal. In proof of this doctrine, reference may be rriade — 1. To the testimony of Scripture. The Bible asserts that the knowledge of God is thus universal. This it does both directly and by necessary implication. The Apostle directly asserts in re- gard to the heathen as such without limitation, that they have the knowledge of God, and such knowledge as to render their impiety and immorality inexcusable. '" Because that when they knew God," he says, " they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful." (Rom. i. 19-21.) He says of the most depraved of men, that they know the righteous judgment of God, that those who commit sin are worthy of death. (Rom. i. 32.) The Scrip- ture everywhere addresses men as sinners ; it calls upon them to repent ; it threatens them with punishment in case of disobedi- ence ; or promises pardon to those who turn from their sins. All this is done without any preliminary demonstration of the being of God. It assumes that men know that there is a God, and that they are subject to his moral government. It is true that the Bible at times speaks of the heathen as not knowing God, and says that they are without God. But this, as explained by the context in which such declarations appear, and by the general teaching of the Scriptures, only means that the heathen are with- out correct, or saving knowledge of God ; that they are without bis favour, do not belong to the number of his people, and of course are not partakers of the blessedness of those whose God is the Lord. In teaching the universal sinfulness and condemnation of men; their inexcusableness for idolatry and immorality; and
196 PART I. — THEOLOGY. [Ch. I. — Orio. of Idea of God
in asserting that even the most degraded are conscious of guilt and just exposure to the divine judgment, the Bible takes for granted that the knowledge of God is universal, that it is written on the heart of every man.
This is still more apparent from what the Bible teaches of the law as written on the heart. The Apostle tells us that those who have a written revelation, shall be judged by that revelation ; that those who have no externally revealed law, shall be judged by the law written on the heart. That the heathen have such a law, he proves first, from the fact that " they do by nature the things con- tained in the law," ^. g., they do under the control of their nature the things which the law prescribes ; and secondly, from the opera- tions of conscience. When it condemns, it pronounces something done, to be contrary to the moral law ; and when it approves, it pronounces something to be conformed to that law. (Rom. ii. 12- 16.) The recognition of God, therefore, that is, of a being to whom we are responsible, is involved in the very idea of accounta- biHty. Hence every man carries in the very constitution of his being as a moral agent, the evidence of the existence of God. And as this sense of sin and responsibility is absolutely universal, so must also, accoi'ding to the Bible, be the knowledge of God.
2. The second argument in favor of the universality of this knowledge, is the historical one. History shows that the religious element of our nature is just as universal as the rational or social one. Wherever men exist, in all ages and in all parts of the world, they have some form of religion. The idea of God is im- pressed on every human language. And as language is the prod- uct and revelation of human consciousness, if all languages have some name for God, it proves that the idea of God, in some form, belongs to every human being.
Objections to the Assumption that the Knowledge of Crod is Univer- sal. There are two objections often urged against the doctrine that the knowledge of God results from the very constitution of our nature, and is therefore universal. The one is, that travellers and mission- aries report the existence of some tribes so degraded that they could discover in them no traces of this knowledge. Even if the fact be admitted that such tribes have no idea of God, it would not be conclusive. Should a tribe of idiots be discovered, it would not prove that reason is not an attribute of our nature. If any com- munity should come to light in which infanticide was universal, it